Drying case of yellow cauliflower

1、 Project Background

As a traditional characteristic agricultural product in China, the drying process in the processing of daylily (golden needle vegetable) is crucial. The traditional drying method is greatly affected by weather, which can easily lead to mold growth and uneven color, while coal or firewood drying has disadvantages such as difficult temperature control, high energy consumption, and high pollution. To improve drying efficiency and ensure product quality, a certain yellow flowered vegetable processing base has introduced a 7P air source heat pump drying room, which adopts intelligent temperature control technology to achieve efficient, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly drying operations.

2、 Drying process flow

① Picking and pre-treatment: Choose yellow flowered vegetables with full and unopened flower buds to avoid breaking flower branches. Steaming and withering (steam treatment at 100 ℃ for 3-5 minutes) to disrupt oxidase activity and prevent browning. Spread the steamed yellow cabbage evenly on a drying tray (5kg/㎡) and push it into the drying room.

② Intelligent drying

The first stage (high-temperature dehydration): The initial setting is 80 ℃, but due to the heat absorption of the material, the actual temperature stabilizes at 60-65 ℃ for 10-12 hours.

Second stage (low-temperature drying): Cool down to 50 ℃ and continue drying until the moisture content is ≤ 14%.

Full automation: temperature, humidity, and wind speed are automatically adjusted without the need for manual supervision.

Softening and packaging: Dried yellow cabbage needs to be softened for 3-5 days to balance moisture and avoid breakage. The finished product does not become brittle when held in hand, and naturally disperses when released. It has a golden color and is healthier without sulfur fumigation.

3、 Project benefit analysis

✅  Energy Saving

Compared to electric heating and drying, it saves more than 75% energy; Compared to coal-fired drying, it saves 60% of operating costs and can achieve a heating effect of 4 kWh with 1 kWh of electricity.

✅  quality improvement

Uniform color, no black spots or mold, intact nutrition retention, in compliance with green food standards. The yield rate has increased by 10%, and the market price has increased by 20%.

✅  Environmental protection and safety

No combustion exhaust gas, no sulfur fumigation, in compliance with food safety production requirements 78.

✅  economic benefits

The single batch drying capacity reaches 500kg, and the annual processing of fresh vegetables exceeds 100 tons, helping farmers increase their income by more than 30%.

4、 Customer feedback

Previously, we relied on the weather to dry our clothes, but suffered heavy losses during the rainy season. Now, we use a 7P air drying room, which not only saves labor, but also ensures stable drying quality and significantly increases customer repurchase rates! ”The person in charge of a certain yellow flowered vegetable cooperative, this case proves that the 7P air source heat pump drying room has significant advantages in yellow flowered vegetable processing, which can ensure product quality, reduce energy consumption and labor costs, and is the preferred solution for modern agricultural processing. In the future, with the popularization of heat pump technology, more agricultural product processing enterprises will benefit from this green drying mode.